Living the Frugal Life

Books to the Rescue!

Saturday. Or is it Wednesday? Does it even matter? Who knows?! Now in our umpteenth week of quarantine, the days are blurring together. Weekends don’t really feel special anymore, except for the fact that I don’t have to constantly herd the kids back to the dining table to finish their eLearning. To be honest, I […]


Homemade Heating Pad

Now at 23 weeks along in my pregnancy with twins, I’m feeling the aches and pains I felt when I was 33 weeks with the first four babies. Perhaps the most nagging is the round ligament pain, a burning, searing, jabbing sensation on the left side of my lower belly. At times it is almost […]


Chicago Children in Chinatown

Chicago enjoyed some blissfully mild weather this past weekend. On Saturday we took a nice family walk to Lincoln Park along Lake Michigan. No coats, no hats, no problems! Sunday was equally as nice, so I wanted to take the kids on another trek around our city. Unfortunately, Chris had to teach a class, so […]


Keeping Busy in the City

It has been a long month. Earlier this summer, our landlord let us know that she needed to sell the home we were renting.  We didn’t want to move, so we scraped and scrambled to purchase our modest city home.  Many people wouldn’t think it is big enough for a family with four kids, but […]


What’s Old is New

One of the best parts about the school year that just ended is the friendship I formed with the mom of one of Evie’s kindergarten classmates.  Amy also has four kids, but her youngest is the age of my oldest, which means that she has tons of helpful advice to share.  She knows plenty of […]


Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Chris just finished doing our taxes.  I used to love doing the taxes (really!), but ever since Chris ventured into entrepreneurship everything has become so complicated so now April 15 is his deadline.  Unfortunately, this year we owe Uncle Sam a much heftier sum than we were expecting, so now we have to rein in the […]


Baby Clothes

With just about two months until Baby #4 arrives, the all too familiar nesting instinct is starting to kick in.  My sister Colleen returned our co-sleeper to us now that her son has outgrown it, so Chris and the kids set it up a few days ago.  I can’t believe our next little man will […]


The Best $12 I’ll Spend All Summer

My sister Caitie recently hosted a super fun birthday party at her house for her son Danny. Despite a bounce house, cupcakes, toys galore and kids everywhere, little Vivian spent the entire party playing at a water table.  It was filled with little rubber duckies that kept her laughing, and by the end of the […]


Pricey Peppers for a Pittance

Every week I travel to a few different grocery stores.  We stick to a very strict $150/week grocery budget, and I do my absolute best to stock our kitchen with plenty of seasonal and organic food.  If I want to stay on budget, I can’t rely on just one store to fill our needs.  I […]


Nature Scavenger Hunt in the Big City

Today was absolutely beautiful. Warm sunshine, gentle breeze, clean air, perfect fall weather.  As any Chicagoan knows, its a good idea to take full advantage of weather like this.  Next week it could very easily freeze! I was determined to spend the entire afternoon outdoors, but without a traditional backyard I need to get creative.  […]


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